We use sustainable growing practices. We prioritize soil health, using a permanent raised bed tillage system, planting about a third of the farm to cover crops (or green manures), and applying compost each year. We have a 5 year crop rotation system and rotate different crop families between fields to reduce pest issues. We do not use synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers, GMOs, irradiation, or sewage sludge. We only use substances that are on the OMRI list (Organic Materials Review Institute). We only use seeds that are organically produced or if organic seeds are commercially unavailable only untreated seeds. We use row cover, a poly spun fabric, to reduce our need to spray for insect control, and to extend the season in our cold climate. We grow heat loving plants like tomatoes, peppers, basil and cucumbers (as well as greens in the winter) in hoophouses and caterpillar tunnels to extend our season and keep the plants more healthy and productive. We limit our use of plastic in the field to a few heat loving crops like zuchinni and sweet potatoes. We use plastic groundcloth which we sanitize and reuse each year with heat loving crops like eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. We installed solar panels at the farm recently which powers our greenhouse, home and office. The barn electricity is enrolled in a community energy program and we hope to find funding soon to pay for solar panels to power the barn and coolers.
If you have questions about our growing methods, we are happy to answer them.